‘Doers & Dreamers: Insights from 150 Impact Makers’ is an anthology edited by Jonathan Løw and Viktoria Stoyanova, supported by JumpStory, and geared towards those who want to turn their ideas into real-world impact.
The book emphasises the significance of not only dreaming but also taking practical steps to turn those dreams into reality. It encourages readers to move from the idea phase to the execution phase, emphasising that successful innovators and entrepreneurs follow through with their ideas. They recognize that ideas alone can impede progress.
‘Doers & Dreamers’ aims to inspire individuals to become impactful change-makers, and covers various aspects of the idea development process, commercialisation, and growth, with some articles offering practical tools and others sharing real-life stories and insights.
The book underscores that without action, innovation remains merely a promise, and it motivates readers to focus on making an impact rather than just holding onto ideas and dreams.
Finding Ideas with Impact
The book opens with our very own Mike Saunders talking about ideas. In an insightful contribution, Mike sheds light on the duality of ideation and the stark truth that most ideas remain unrealised, and even good ones often fall by the wayside.
In contrast, this means that a lot of bad ideas are realised.
Because of this, these bad ideas can be problematic and lead to distraction and misallocation of resources. To combat this, Mike shares an analogy that assesses ideas based on energy cost, investment, and impact and stresses the importance of focusing on ideas that offer substantial energy output and genuine impact.
Mike emphasises that ideas should work for you, not the other way around. In essence, this thought-provoking piece advocates for a more strategic and measured approach to idea generation and implementation.
“Here’s the hard, uninspiring truth about ideas. Most ideas never attribute to anything more than that. They fail. In my experience, the tragedy is not that most ideas don’t see the light of day but that the good ones don’t – and some of the worst ones made it through. My big lesson as an ideas man – not all ideas are good – most ideas are bad.”
Mike Saunders, CEO at Digitlab
Notable Contributions
‘Doers & Dreamers’ is jam-packed and full of valuable insights and encouragements for those who are looking to turn their dreams into realities. The book contains words of wisdom from:
- Craigslist Founder, Craig Newmark, speaks about listening to others’ ideas and refining the best of them
- Author, Tim Ferriss, makes a case for the generalists in a world of dogmatic specialists
- Author and blogger, Seth Godin, argues that we don’t need more time even though we think we do
- Author, Nir Eyal, talks about the effect of external triggers in the workplace
- And many more!
“Why ship it today if you can ship it next week instead? There is a myriad of excuses, but ultimately it comes down to this: if every innovation is likely to fail, or at the very least, be criticized, why be in such a hurry?”
Seth Godin, Bestselling Author
Closing Thoughts
In summary, ‘Doers & Dreamers’ is an inspiring anthology that encourages readers to go beyond dreaming and take actionable steps to bring their ideas to life, emphasising the power of action over mere contemplation.
It’s available as an eBook and audiobook, with all proceeds donated to the Red Cross in Denmark. The book serves as a comprehensive resource to guide readers on their journey from dreaming to doing. It reminds readers that they have the potential to create meaningful change, regardless of their background, and encourages them to shift their focus from ideas and dreams to tangible actions.
To read the full articles and contributions mentioned in this blog post, as well as many more insightful and valuable pieces of content, you can download the book for free here: https://doers23.com/download/
